The next roll backwards?
Nagelsmann becomes clear in the Kimmich debate
Updated 10/10/2025 – 10:19 amReading time: 3 minutes
Will Julian Nagelsmann change his plans with Joshua Kimmich again? The national coach becomes clear in the eternal debate about his captain.
Julian Nagelsmann has made his decision: Captain Joshua Kimmich will again play in the midfield position of the German national team – “As of now,” as the national coach emphasized again in the sports show before the World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg in Sinsheim (8.45 p.m./ARD). That means: “It is never out of the question that he will play a different position.”
Depending on the opponent or game situation, Kimmich could also take on the role of right-back again. “The great thing about him is that he can play both positions extremely well, that he also did it very well at the European Championships, but that he can also be a right-back who goes into the six position with the ball because he can do it well,” explained Nagelsmann.
After his surprising return to the central midfield of the German national team, Joshua Kimmich could be looking for another position change. And that just a few weeks after the change by national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
Before the upcoming World Cup qualifier on Friday evening (from 8:45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online) against Luxembourg, the captain of the national team was already training as a right-back again this week. A further backward roll in terms of his position seems to be on the horizon. According to “Bild”, Nagelsmann is already planning to use Kimmich as right-back against Luxembourg.
The national coach had only declared in the summer that he wanted to use Kimmich permanently in the six position in the future. At the time, he justified the decision by saying that Kimmich was “simply one of two or three players who will always play at the club.” At FC Bayern, Kimmich is in the center of midfield and is the head and leader of the team.
Nagelsmann Kimmich recently played in exactly this role in the last two international matches against Slovakia (0:2) and against Northern Ireland (3:1). But now there are increasing indications that Nagelsmann’s plans have changed again – at least temporarily. With Leon Goretzka, Aleksandar Pavlović, Angelo Stiller and Felix Nmecha, there are several alternatives available for the central midfield.
On the right side of the defense, however, there has recently been a lack of suitable solutions. In the 2-0 defeat against Slovakia, debutant Nnamdi Collins was overwhelmed, and his representative Maximilian Mittelstädt was also unable to convince. Both are now missing from the current squad, instead Ridle Baku returns to the national team after a four-year break. But apparently Nagelsmann is not completely convinced.